SERMON: HEARING FROM GOD

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

 

I.  Introduction

      -- turn in Bibles to Genesis 12:1-9 -- while you are doing that, I want to open by reading a couple of verses from Hebrews 1 to get us started -- Hebrews 1:1-2

 

Hebrews 1:1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

 

      -- last year, CBS shared the story of Jacob Smith, a 15-year-old freeride skier who was competing at the higher levels of competition -- freeride skiing is a specialized form of competition skiing that takes place on natural, ungroomed terrain without a set course or goals -- it’s as close to natural skiing as you can get, and the challenge of not having a groomed and set course to follow is that you have to be able to read and understand the terrain you are skiing in and to stay safe from danger while hurtling downhill at high speeds, hopefully getting to the finish line quicker than everyone else

      -- the thing that makes Jacob’s story so compelling is the fact that Jacob is legally blind -- he has extreme tunnel vision with no depth perception -- while he can see a little, what he does see is blurry -- His visual acuity is rated 20/800, four times the level of legal blindness

      -- to give you an idea of what this means in a real-world sense, think of the big E on the eye chart -- in order for Jacob to be able to see that letter, it would need to be blown up four times in size before he could even see it from a distance of 20 feet away

      -- so, how can Jacob ski in such demanding terrain and compete with other skiers while so limited in his vision? -- he can only do it because of his family -- Jacob has a two-way radio in his ear -- and his father, Nathan, stands at the bottom, looking up at the top of the mountain as Jacob begins his descent -- he looks through binoculars and calls out instructions to Jacob -- telling him which way to go and how to turn so he can avoid trees and rocks and cliffs

      -- Nathan described his partnership with Jacob this way:

 

“It's on me to make sure I don't let him down -- I have to guide him through narrower chutes or not go off a cliff -- Jacob is not reckless -- He knows his limitations -- I think he has the ability to ski anything on the mountain, but he's not gonna go try to do it by himself -- Like, he wants to be with somebody who he trusts -- He won't ski with people he doesn't trust.”

 

      -- When Jacob was asked how much he trusted his father, he simply replied, “I mean, [I trust him] enough to turn right when he tells me to.”¹

 

II.  Basic Premise -- Does God Speak Now?

      -- Jacob’s story and his faith and trust in his father’s voice reminds us of a great spiritual truth that we need to be standing on in our lives today -- in our world, we are faced with a cacophony of noise, all demanding our attention and our focus -- from the ubiquitous phone in our pocket to the podcasts and music we listen to -- to the never-ending news and entertainment that we allow into our homes and into our lives

      -- but in the midst of all that noise -- in the midst of all that clamor -- there is one voice that is calling out to us that we need to be listening to -- one voice that can safely guide us through these tumultuous times until we finally reach safety on the other side -- the voice of God

 

      -- this passage from Hebrews is a good reminder to us that God still speaks to us today, if we will but listen -- His voice rings true and provides direction and guidance -- peace and truth -- in this world today

      -- the author Hebrews chose to open his letter to the Jewish believers by reminding them of that truth -- he reminds them that in the past, God spoke to their forefathers through intermediaries -- through the prophets and priests -- but now, he declares, in these last days, God speaks to us through His Son -- the heir of all things -- the Creator of the universe -- and the radiance of God’s glory on earth

      -- although not specifically listed in this passage, we know that there are four main ways that Jesus speaks to us today through His Spirit within -- and I’m giving these to you in order of priority

            -- Bible -- God’s Word -- His spoken revelation to us given through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

            -- Prayer -- our time of conversing with God -- knowing God speaks to us through prayer is a reminder to us that prayer is not a one-way conversation, although that is the way we usually approach it -- we go to God and we do all the speaking -- we praise Him -- we confess our sins -- we share our needs and the needs of others -- but we must always remember to allow God time to speak back into our lives -- we need to allow Him time to respond

            -- Church -- God’s people on earth -- God will use other Christians to share His message -- either corporately, through sermons or Bible studies or testimonies -- or individually and personally, as people in the body of Christ are called to share God’s message with others -- many times in my Christian life I have had believers come to me and say, “God told me to tell you this” -- and when that happens, we need to listen and then we need to confirm through the Bible and prayer

            -- Circumstances -- God will speak to us through our circumstances -- He will orchestrate and move heaven and earth to speak to us and give us His message -- I have wondered over the last several years if God is not calling out to us and calling us to Him through all the unusual events that have occurred -- the pandemic -- the natural disasters -- the economic and political shakings of America and the world -- God can speak to us through our circumstances, but this takes insight and confirmation through the study of God’s word and prayer and the church before you can affirm this is God calling -- so, God will speak through circumstances, but it will always be confirmed in another way -- don’t trust circumstances alone, because the world will lead you astray, if you do

      -- so, those are the four ways Jesus speaks to us today -- the Bible -- Prayer -- Church -- and Circumstances

      -- let’s look now at an example from Scripture that shows us how others have heard and responded to God’s voice in their lives -- and how their obedience resulted in blessings to themselves and to others

 

III.  Obedience to Call of God

      -- the first is the story of the calling of Abram from Genesis 12 -- if you would, join me here in this passage, beginning at verse 1 and we’ll walk through this together

 

Genesis 12:1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

 

            -- while Abram was living in the land of Haran, he heard the voice of God -- and that’s important -- just like we were saying, God is always working in our lives -- always speaking to us and calling out to us -- but we have to be in the place where we can hear His voice and recognize His call -- Abram was in such a place at the beginning of Chapter 12 as he was in Haran with his father and his family

      -- are you in the place where you can hear God’s voice in your life? -- maybe you need to take intentional time in your day to get quiet before God -- to call out to Him and then to listen -- to get away from all the noise and all the distractions so that you can hear Him when he calls, just like He did to Abram

 

            -- and notice this from Abram’s story -- sometimes God calls us to do things that don't make sense -- God told Abram to uproot his family and to start a journey without even knowing the destination -- what a crazy notion -- it didn't make sense for Abraham to just pick up and leave Haran to go to an unknown land -- he would have to leave family, friends, established way of life -- he’d have to uproot everyone and move with whole household to foreign land -- think about explaining that to your parents or to your spouse or to your children

            -- but that was the call of God -- that is what the voice of God told Abram to do -- what is He calling you to do today?

 

      -- thinking about this call of God to Abram always reminds me of the short-lived TV series, Joan of Arcadia, that was out a decade ago -- the premise of the story was that Joan, the middle child of a typical suburban family in Arcadia, Maryland, bargained with God to save her older brother’s life after an accident -- she prayed for God to spare him, and said that if he did so, she would serve Him the rest of her life

      -- not long after that, God began appearing to Joan in various forms, including small children, teenage boys, elderly ladies, transients, or passersby -- calling her to do things that made no sense at the time -- tasks that often appear to be trivial or inconsequential—such as enrolling in an AP Chemistry class or building a boat—but these tasks always ended up positively improving a larger situation -- and by the end of the show, you saw how Joan’s faithfulness in response to God’s voice helped these people move closer to God or saved them from impending doom

 

      -- the message here is that we should be listening for God’s voice -- and when He speaks, prepare to do what He tells us to do, even if it seems to make no sense or to be totally illogical at the time

 

Genesis 12:2 “I will make you into a great nation,

    and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

    and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,

    and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

    will be blessed through you.”

 

-- although God did not give Abram a lot of details about the immediate future -- where he would go -- what he would do -- God did reveal His plan that would follow Abram’s obedience and faithfulness -- when God speaks, He always has a plan in mind, even if He doesn’t always share with us the end results we will see, as He does with Abram here

      -- but the results of obedience to God -- of hearing and following His voice and turning where He says to turn and going where He says to go-- will result in blessings of God on you and others

      -- in this case, Abram’s obedience was going to result in the blessing of the world because this promise from God foreshadows the coming of the Messiah from the line of Abram, who would take away the sins of the world and bless all peoples on earth

 

            Genesis 12:4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

 

6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

 

8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

 

9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

 

-- “so Abram left” -- just three words there at the start of verse 4, but how powerful and significant are those words -- “so Abram left” -- when he heard the voice of God call out to him in Haran and tell him to get up and leave his country, his people, and his father’s household and set out into the unknown -- Abram was faced with a choice

      -- the easy answer would be to do nothing -- to say the call wasn’t real -- to turn away from the voice of God -- to keep on in the comfortable -- to keep on living life as always

      -- but the other option was to believe the voice and to act on the call -- and that is what is summed up in those three words, “So Abram left”

      -- this speaks of Abram’s faithfulness and his trust and belief in God -- this is the expected response to God’s call in our lives -- the act of obedience

      -- as we read in the Book of James, be more than hearers of the Word -- be doers of the Word

      -- God's call is a call to action -- when you hear God, He wants you to step out in obedience and do what He is calling you to do, even though you may not fully understand where He is sending you or what else might be expected at the time

 

            -- when God speaks, it is usually similar to the way He spoke to Abram -- first, His voice -- His call to obedience -- a call that does not tell you everything at first, but demands a faithful response before He speaks again -- for Abram, this meant, "go to the land that I will show you"

 

            -- God’s voice and call in our lives always demands a response on our part -- a step of faith in obedience to God’s call, trusting God to lead us once we get going -- think about the paralytic man by the pool of Bethesda -- after questioning whether the man really wanted to be healed or not, Jesus spoke healing into this man’s life by telling him to get up, take his mat, and walk -- healing would only come when the man responded in obedience and faithfulness -- if he had not gotten up and done what Jesus said, I believe he would have remained in his paralytic state -- but he responded with what little faith he had, and he experienced healing in his life -- that is the way God calls all to us when He speaks  

 

            -- finally, as we go -- as we respond in faithfulness and trust and obedience -- God clarifies the call and shares more of His plan for us or for others -- notice here in verse 7 that God paused Abram as he traveled through the land of Canaan -- He tells Abram, “I will give this land to your offspring” -- in other words, this is not for you, yet -- but others will be blessed because of your obedience -- God gave Abram more instructions that made the first part, “Got to the land I will show you” clearer -- the blessing would come, even if Abram didn’t experience it himself

      -- the same holds true with us -- as we respond in obedience to God’s voice, He reveals more of His plan and clarifies the call -- when Kim and I were living in Tennessee, things were going pretty good -- we both had good jobs -- we had friends -- activities -- we were going out and doing stuff -- and then God spoke to me and said, “Come home -- come back to south Georgia”

      -- it made no sense -- we didn’t understand why God was calling us back when we were so established elsewhere -- but we loaded up and went, even if Kim did so with weeping and gnashing of teeth

      -- one thing led to another -- God continued to speak and to lead until we found ourselves in a little church in Morven, where God solidified the call and I accepted His call to ministry -- leading to this very moment in this little church here

      -- God reveals His plan only in response to obedience, so if you find yourself stagnant -- if you find yourself too comfortable -- ask yourself where you are with His call -- have you missed a step that is causing you to not hear the next part of the journey? -- listen for His voice and follow Him in obedience, no matter how illogical or insensible the call might seem at the time

 

 

IV.  Closing

      -- let me close by sharing an illustration that brings all this home

 

A young man had been to Wednesday night Bible Study. The Pastor had shared about listening to God. The young man couldn't help but wonder, "Does God still speak to people?"

After service he went out with some friends for coffee and pie and they discussed the idea. Several different people talked about how God had led them to do things in different ways.

It was about ten o'clock when the young man started driving home. Sitting in his car, he just began to pray, "God... If you still speak to people, speak to me. I will listen. I will do my best to serve your wishes."

As he drove down the main street of his town, he had the strangest thought, to stop and buy a gallon of milk. He shook his head and said out loud, "God is that you?" He didn't get a reply and started on toward home.

But again, the thought was there, "Buy a gallon of milk." The young man thought about how he'd heard that not all those spoken to recognized God's quiet voice inside of one's mind. Then he said, "Okay, God, in case that is you, I will buy the milk."

It didn't seem like too hard a request to fulfil. He could always use the milk himself if nothing else. So he stopped and purchased the gallon of milk and started off toward home.

As he passed Seventh Street, he again felt the urge, "Turn down that street."

"This is crazy," he thought and drove on pass and passed the intersection.

Again, he felt that he should turn down Seventh Street. At the next intersection, he turned back and headed down Seventh. Half jokingly, he said out loud, "Okay, God, I will."

He drove several blocks, when suddenly, he felt like he should stop. He pulled over to the curb and looked around. He was in a semi-commercial area of town. It wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst of neighborhoods either.

The businesses were closed and most of the houses looked dark like the people were already in bed. Again, he sensed something: "Go and give the milk to the people in the house across the street." The young man looked at the house. It was dark and it looked like the people were either gone or they were already asleep.

He started to open the door and then sat back in the car seat. "God, this is insane. Those people are asleep and if I wake them up, they are going to be mad and I will look stupid."

Again, he felt like he should go and give the milk. Finally, he opened the car door. "Okay God, if this is you, I will go to the door and I will give them the milk. If you want me to look like a crazy person, okay. I want to do as you wish. I guess that will count for something, but if they don't answer right away, I am out of here."

He walked across the street and rang the bell. He could hear some noise inside. A man's voice yelled out, "Who is it? What do you want?"

Then the door opened before the young man could get away. The man was standing there in his jeans and T-shirt. He looked like he'd just got out of bed. He had a strange look on his face and he didn't seem too happy to have some stranger standing on his doorstep.

"What is it?"

The young man thrust out the gallon of milk. "Here, I brought this to you," he said nervously.

The man took the milk and rushed down a hallway speaking loudly in Spanish. Then from down the hall came a woman carrying the milk toward the kitchen. The man was following her holding a baby. The baby was crying. The man had tears streaming down his face.

The man began speaking and half-crying, "We were just praying. We had some big bills this month and we ran out of money. We didn't have any milk for our baby. I was just praying and asking God to show me how to get some milk."

His wife in the kitchen yelled out, "I asked Him to send an angel with some milk. Are you an angel?"

when the young man heard her question, he reached into his wallet and pulled out all the money he had on him and put in the man's hand. He turned and walked back toward his car as the tears were streaming down his face, for he had just learned the truth about God’s voice in the world today -- and now he knew that God still answers prayers and that God still speaks to people, if we will but listen.

 

      -- In every instance in the Bible when God calls out to someone, the pattern is always the same:

      1.  When God spoke, they knew it was God

      2.  They knew what God was saying

      3.  They knew what they were to do in response

      4.  They didn’t wait to be given the full picture but moved out in obedience based on the light they were given

      5.  In response to their obedience, God clarified the call

      6.  Their faithful actions resulted in a change in someone’s life

 

      -- we need to learn to look for this pattern in our lives

      -- first, recognize that God is always at work around us and is always speaking to us

      -- secondly, we need to learn to hear His voice through the Bible, Prayer, Church, Circumstances

      -- finally, when we hear God call, we need to step out in faith -- trust Jesus to guide us one step at a time -- when we start to walk in faith like this, it leads to new freedom in Christ

            -- we no longer have to worry about what to do, but we can wait and listen for God’s voice and trust Him to lead us

 

      -- when God calls, He is calling you to obedience in order to bless you and others through you -- small steps of faith can end up with huge results -- look at what happened to the young man in this story with a gallon of milk -- look at what God did in Abraham's life

      -- what would have happened if neither of them had been willing to take that first small step of obedience? -- so, let me leave you with this question:  what small step is God calling you to take today?

      -- let us pray

 

1 Source: Sharyn Alfonsi, “The only big fear I have is not succeeding,” CBS News (3-6-22)